Premature to condemn Govt, TNB, says Masidi
KOTA KINABALU:
It is premature for people, especially residents in Sandakan to condemn the State Government or Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) on its proposal to build a coal-fired plant in the district. This is because the site for the coal-fired plant has yet to be identified, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said. Masidi, the Minister in charge of the project, yesterday disclosed that it was just a suggestion to relocate the proposed coal-fired plant from Lahad Datu to Sandakan. “The site has not even been identified or finalised so the issue of having it or not doesn’t arise at this point of time,” he said when asked to comment on the call by Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Yong Teck Lee to TNB to urgently embark on other power options and stop forcing the proposed coal-fired power plant on the people of Sandakan. TNB, Masidi said, has not even submitted a site proposal and added, “So it is actually premature for everybody to start condenming the Government or TNB. So far it is just a suggestion on paper”. According to Masidi, the State Government’s stand is that it would like TNB to consider all other options before it decides on a coal-fired plant. “That has always been the stand of the Government. Of course when you say all options that would include coal-fired plant but that would be the last resort if nothing else can work,” he said. The State Government, Masidi assured, would be very thorough with every aspect of the application to build a coal-fired plant in the State.
